Recent communication grads win Top Paper recognition at national conference

COMMUNICATION GRADS TAKE TOP HONOR – Four recent graduates of Southeastern's organizational communication master's degree
program won the Top Paper Award at the National Communication Association held recently
in Chicago. Pictured are, from left, Mallory Lindsly and Megan Caldwell of Metairie,
Associate Professor of Communication Claire Procopio, Piyawan Charoensap of Mandeville,
and Lauren Broussard of LaPlace.

HAMMOND – Four recent graduates of Southeastern Louisiana University's organizational communication
master's program have been recognized with the Top Paper Award for a presentation
made at the annual conference of the National Communication Association held in Chicago.

The students, Mallory Lindsly and Megan Caldwell of Metairie, Piyawan Charoensap of
Mandeville, Lauren Broussard of LaPlace, all earned their master's degree program
last May. Theirs was one of four papers selected out of nearly 70 to be presented
in the Training and Development Division of the NCA, the largest association of communication
professionals in the United States.

"We are extremely proud of the research and writing that our students did in preparing
this paper," said Associate Professor of Communication Claire Procopio, who accompanied
the team to the association meeting. "These students trumped professors and established
scholars to earn this honor."

The paper, "Evaluation of a Soft Skills Training Program," was prepared as part of
the requirements for their course in research methods, said Procopio.

"The students evaluated the effectiveness of a soft skills, face-to-face employee
training program as opposed to one offered online a large area hospital," she explained.
"They looked at the effectiveness of each form of training on the degree of learning,
behavioral change and willingness to learn."

Procopio said results of the study showed that neither the willingness to learn nor
method of delivery affected degree of comprehension by the participants.

"However both had major effects on the reported behavior change by the participants,
with the People Style Model Training Method of training appearing to be more effective
in teaching employees how to 'flex' their personal style and to improve their relationships
with others. The research by these students suggests various implications and directions
for future study."

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